Rick Barker’s letter (May 20) on felonies, misdemeanors and statistics reminded me of the time I came up with an idea to completely eliminate reportable crime. It’s simple: Toss the penal code and reportable crime will go down by 100%. I actually got the idea from the Portuguese, who decriminalized all personal drug use in 2001 and reclassified such activities from crimes to “administrative violations.” If you’re caught using drugs in Portugal you basically get a fine and a counseling session, but “that” crime (reportable or otherwise) has been eliminated. That’s not a manipulated statistic, that’s a cold, hard fact.
But more to Mr. Barker’s point on statistical reports on crime here in the U.S., my question would be this: Who are we trying to fool, and why?
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
